Waaaaaaay to early to talk anything more than general impressions here, but how do you see the East shaping up? I have a feeling that the ugly teams all seemed to get a bit better (sorry Florida, not you) and there might be a bit more point parity this season. What do you think?

2010-2011 Rank	Team	2010-2011 PTS
1	Washington	107
2	Philadelphia	106
3	Boston	103
4	Pittsburgh	106
5	Tampa Bay	103
6	Montréal	96
7	Buffalo	96
8	NY Rangers	93
9	Carolina	91
10	Toronto	85
11	New Jersey	81
12	Atlanta	80
13	Ottawa	74
14	NY Islanders	73
15	Florida	72
2011-2012 Prediction	Team	2011-2012 PTS	(+/-) PTS
1	Pittsburgh	110	(+4)
2	Boston	101	(-2)
3	Washington	100	(-7)
4	Tampa Bay	100	(-3)
5	NY Rangers	98	(+5)
6	Philadelphia	97	(-9)
7	Montréal	96	EVEN
8	New Jersey	93	(+12)
9	Buffalo	90	(-6)
10	Carolina	90	(-1)
11	Toronto	89	(+4)
12	Winnipeg	85	(+5)
13	Ottawa	80	(+6)
14	NY Islanders	79	(+6)
15	Florida	72	EVEN

i like the bruins montreal matchup you have there

New Jersey, Carolina and Buffalo will be an interesting battle for 8th. Can the Canes and Devils stay healthy ? The Sabres get in barely because of Miller and Brodeur finally shows he's that one step closer too needing to retire.

Your top 4 looks good but I'd have Philly among them instead of Tampa.  Since word has emerged about the alleged bad influence Carter and Richards had within the club has been addressed much like the state of their goaltending, I'd have them higher than 6th. 

The Devils might be on the outside looking in.  It's one thing for them to catch fire in the second half of last year with Lemaire after he replaced Maclean but to repeat that marvellous display under a another new coach might be too much to expect. 

I think the Bruins will finish with more points this year than last. They appear to be a stronger team and I think that they will come out flying just to prove that the cup hangover is a myth.

In Response to Re: Dust has mostly settled - who ya got in the East?:


RHO, I have Philly slipping also. Goaltending got better but now up front has the question marks. I don't know about an old Jagr and a bunch of kids who haven't played a whole lot in the NHL replacing Richards and Carter. Big makeover for them up front. It'll be interesting to see how the forwards gel together. Right now it's kind of the unknown if you're a Flyers fan.

I think the surprise team will be the Islanders as far as being better. I also see the habs being lucky to make the playoffs!.

Pittsburgh won't get 110 points. Everbody thinks because Crosby and Malkin are back that they are going to be so much better, but at the beginning of last year when they were both healthy they didn't do that amazing. Crosby's coming back from severe concussion problems and if any fans should know what that does to a player it should be Bruins fans. They're not even going to have a third and fourth line. Rupp was a great player they lost and Talbot is a pretty big loss. Overall they're going to have to have Dupius on one of the first two lines which is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Maybe it's just wishful thinking because I live in Western PA but I don't think the penguins are going to be THAT good this year. 

I'll go with my top 8.

1- Washington
2- Pittsburgh
3- Boston
4- Tampa
5- Montreal
6- Rangers
7- Philly
8- Devils

I think the Caps once again will fire on all cylinders and wanting to prove something again.
Veut , veux pas the Bruins will suffer a little with the Stanley Cup hangover. They'll lose some points but it'll be close between them and Pens.
Habs all depends on Price again, if he has a season like last they'll be a top contender. They're an improved bunch with or without Markov.
Devils ,  let's not forget Parise was not there for most of the season.  They'll fight with Flyers, Sabres, Canes, Jets and yes even the Leafs for 7-8 spot.

While I do have the Flyers in 7th and this prediction is based on numbers and tradition I told a Flyer fan that they don' make the playoffs this upcoming season.
Just a bold prediction. From losing their 2 best centers , a head-case of a goalie,  a dressing room that's a little upside down, " Dry Island" LOL , injury prone core (Briere , Pronger) and they have too many unknowns going forward.

I should've made some comments, and I'm enjoying reading all of yours.

Points in general will be distributed more evenly this year, as the lower-tiered teams in both the West and East seem to be making strides. I see more wins for the likes of Ottawa, NJ, NYI...so those points need to come from somewhere.

1 - PIT can only get better w/ health.

2 - BOS about the same, maybe a bit of a drop since it'll be hard to expect Thomas to have the same type of year he had last year. He'll still be great, but all-time SV%?

3 - WSH continues to tweak their style to make longer playoff runs, which means less regular season success.

4 - TB has better goaltending for a full season, plus continued success from the guys not names Vinny, Marty and Steve

5 - NYR seem vastly improved, and I really like their depth. Goalie is a stud.

6 - PHI - I see this as a transition year, and some slipping. They lost a lot of scoring punch, and it'll take them time to gel. Could be a playoff sleeper, though.

7 - MTL - Always solid. Always there. Never spectacular.

8 - NJ - No way they have the same start as last year, and the overall team is pretty good. I say they sneak up on people. Tough to play against as long as the goaltending holds up.

9 - BUF - Lots of good press, but waaaaaay too much money tied up in some of those player.s Just because they got mad cash doesn't mean they are magically 50% better players then they were last year. I don't get the hype.

10 - CAR - Meh. Staal's amazing and I'd take Cam Ward any day. They always seem to let the wrong guys go...guys that are #3 defencemen or 2nd line scoring wingers. Those types.

11 - TOR - I think they're better, but with lots of teams being better and the top teams not slipping much, there are only so many points to go around. I don't see them putting together a long point streak, which is what always separates the men from the boys.

12 - WPG - About the same. Maybe a few more wins at home due to the atmosphere, but minus a few due to travel. I gave them +5 points but it's not enough.

13 - Ottawa - Rebuilding, again. Loved their team late last year, but just don't have the talent.

14 - NYI - On paper, they should be better. However, they are still ridiculously young and can drop 4-5 in a row easily...at multiple times during the season. These mini-slumps always haunt them, and they don't have the leadership nor the goaltending to stop the bleeding.

15 - FLA - Simply awful. Move them to QC already.

I think it will be:

To many people taking to much away from philly.. They gave up some up front, but player growth from giroux, and JVR will make up for a lot of that, adding the winger out of columbus, 2 players from the kings, they should still be a dangerous offense with improved goal tending..

The bruins wont have more points then last season I don't think, stanley cup hang over.. They will need a lot of growth out of seguin to improve on last years numbers cause there is just no way thomas can repeat his 20-5 start he had last year...

I'm still wondering who will settle down and play well. Pittsburgh does not have the depth up front, and if Crosby mimics Bergie's first year,  after the concussion, they will not make it. The Rangers appear to be more of a contender, and their coaching by Torts will push all their buttons. I too wonder about Philly. Jagr could be a BIG dissapointment: JVR has grown well , but he needs some support; Too many newbies to make a run; may not make the playoffs. Toronto could be a suprise; Parise will help NJ, but don't expect too much from Brodeur. IMO Rask will outplay Timmy, and I'm not sure how Claude will manage that. Still think Boychuck is a weak link on defense.

1. Pittsburgh--110pts

In Response to Re: Dust has mostly settled - who ya got in the East?:


I don't think Toronto will have a snowballs chance in hell at beating the Rangers with the pickup of Richards...

In Response to Re: Dust has mostly settled - who ya got in the East?:

And I'll add that Briere is now the man and how he handles it will effect the Flyers hugely. Having watched Simmonds in LA ,with more TOI, he will pot more goals.

Think we all learned a valuable lesson this year! Reg season means very little!  Just be firing going into the playoffs!
It would be nice to see Montreal in the 2nd or 3rd round for a change though! 
I predict Bruins will win there Division!
Buffalo and New York will contend in the East as well!

1) Wash- Vokun will be a Vezina Candidate
2) Pitts- James Neal will have a career season if he plays with Crosby; or Gino
3) Bos- TT ties record of 2nd most SO in a season with 15 & DK finishes in top 5 in scoring
4) TBay- Roloson will keep these guys in the hunt all season
5) Buffalo- With a healthy Derek Roy & new additions they'll challenge the B's for Division lead
6) NYR- Gaborik & Richards & world class goaltending?
7) New Jersey- Having Parise back would make any team better.
8) Winnipeg- I think they make it; most valuable player on the team? FANS IN THE STANDS!!

Buffalo made the playoffs this past season and took the Flyers to 7 games. This year they will have Boyes for a full season and with the additions of Leino, Regehr , Erhoff should be enough to put them back in the post season. They seem to make it every year on Millers back alone.

I think Pittsburgh, Washington and Boston will all be very good.  Tampa Bay and the Flyers will be good.  New Jersey, New York and Buffalo will all be better.  Ottawa, NYI, Fla, Winnipeg will be bad.  Montreal and Toronto will be similar.  I think the Atlantic will probably be the league's toughest division, so all of them will take a hit in the standings.  Wash will have the easiest division outside of TB. I would peg Wash, Bos, Pitt at the top, in that order.

In Response to Re: Dust has mostly settled - who ya got in the East?:


Yeah,
Part of the deal was to allow briere to remain at center where he has been better through out his career, I agree with simmonds, he is a high end power foward project at this point, Vorachek can score some goals and the real gem is Schenn, who from everything I have seen, is expected to step in and make an impact..

In Response to Re: Dust has mostly settled - who ya got in the East?:


1. Agree- they are gonna be a sick team again.  See if it follows them into the playoffs.
2. Agree- Pitt will be outstanding if healthy.
3. Agree- Should really only get better than last year.
4. Disagree- lightning in the bottle for some of that group last year. Lost some key components.  I think too much is tied into 3 players.  No depth at all on the backend. Name their top 6 dmen w/o looking.  I can't and we just beat them.
5. Agree on Buffalo.  I think they could be either very very good or the other end similar to NJ last year.
6. Agree- But again see Buffalo comments.  Plus its the Rangers.  I can't stand them.
7. Agree- I think they could even jump up in the 100pt range easily.
8. This is where a host of teams fall in.  Winnipeg/Carolina/Tampa/Montreal.  I see Montreal getting the 8th spot(world class goalie- more depth and size up front and a pretty nize defense group and I truly think Martin is a brilliant coach.).


7. 

In Response to Re: Dust has mostly settled - who ya got in the East?:


So you dont think philly cracks the top 8?

1. Boston--105-combo of Thomas and Rask with a very young team that is very much matured after cup win.. 2. Pittsburgh--103pts crosby back in the fold and good overall depth.  3. Tampa Bay--101pts most of team intact 4. Washington--100pts OVECHKIN 5. Montreal --99pts  all around solid team with another year of Subban and Price. 6. Buffalo--95pts they finished very strong and battled injuries all year. Miller in net and some solid young kids. 7. Philadelphia--92pts too much change here and goaltending still suspect, pronger on the decline. Always hurt. He is going to be 37 next year and only played 50 games this year. 8. Toronto--89pts 9. NYR--89pts  Take your pick between Toronto and NYR.  Now that we are free and clear of them I would like the see Toronto do something.  I like Burke and a few young players on their team....

1. Pittsburgh